


𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐢𝐧┇kuroo tetsurou

by odyxxeus



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: 1920s, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - 1920s, Assassination Attempt(s), Assassination Plot(s), Assassins & Hitmen, Blood and Gore, Blood and Violence, Bokuto Koutarou & Kuroo Tetsurou Friendship, F/M, Family, Family Loss, Gangters, Gun Violence, Historical, I Made Myself Cry, Kuroo Tetsurou is a Good Friend, Loss of Parent(s), Military Background, Post-World War I, Protective Older Brothers, Sad Ending, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Sobbing, mafia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2020-11-15 07:49:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20862755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/odyxxeus/pseuds/odyxxeus
Summary: ❝ CAN LIFEBE LIVEDWITHOUT PAIN ❞𝐤𝐮𝐦𝐢 𝐚𝐨𝐤𝐢 ( oc ) x 𝐭𝐞𝐭𝐬𝐮𝐨𝐫𝐮 𝐤𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐨 ( canon )





	1. december, 1925

**Author's Note:**

> this story was semi-inspired by the movie Road to Perdition, i absolutely adore the movie and the whole aesthetic of it. i also really adore the eras 1920s and the 30s, i have no idea why but when I think of it i’m like ‘GOD I WISH I LIVED THROUGH THIS ERA’ then i realise both eras aren’t just the glitz and glamour but held sadness around it too. 
> 
> i hope you enjoy this story! i kinda made myself cry thinking about it.

The sand between her toes was something she had never felt before. The cold, wet, grainy sand wheedling its way through the crevasses and gently scratched the side of her toes. Her eyes were closed, her head raised towards the grey and gloomy sky as small raindrops hit her freckled cheeks, it was less than a drizzle, every so often the tiny pitter-patter against her face left her at ease and at peace. The gentle crashing of the ocean waves against the embankment, sloshing and splashing about was music to her ears, she had never seen the ocean before or heard it, despite being told that every shell she held to her ear and listened deeply she would hear the waves. They were wrong, nothing could beat the sound that she was hearing right now.

The sea breeze brushed passed her, causing her matted blonde hair to go flow with the wind, she didn’t bother tucking away the strands of her hair, she let the wind take them and guided them wherever they need be. Her clothes were semi-wet due to the slight downpour, the linen fabric of her shirt ruffled in the wind and as well as her trousers. Taking a soft and deep intake of breath, she held it for a few seconds before slowly opening her mouth and let out a longing sigh, the smell of the salty sea invading her senses. It was complete and utter bliss. 

The young woman barely opened her eyes she was afraid that this might have all been a dream, the sand, the sea, the salt, the sound and the wind gently rushing past her. Her eyes weren’t tightly closed, but calm, the calmest that they have been over the past six to nine weeks, her eyes fluttering whenever raindrops hit her eyes and got caught in her dark eyelashes. Taking another long inhale, she raised her arms above her head, cradling in the air almost, representing her lungs expanding and the young woman slowly let them down, as she exhaled and with that, she finally opened her eyes. 

Emerald green stared at the gloomy grey sky above. As her eyes fluttered open, she realised that this wasn’t a dream at all and that this was reality. Her chest felt tight as her gaze was held longer than she expected, the way the clouds moved restlessly along the sky, carrying the rain that pelted down softly upon her and she was an immovable object, withstanding the test of time and gazing longingly at the sky, wishing that she was up there in the clouds. 

The sound of sand being crushed underfoot caused the young woman to stiffen, her body becoming ridged, for a long time she had to keep looking over her shoulder and it only just became second nature to her, like breathing or blinking. “You okay?” His voice was like the waves crashing against the sand embankments, a peaceful sound. “You’ve been out here for a long time…” Casting a look over her shoulder, his hands were shoved into the pockets of his tweed trousers that were held up by a pair of black suspenders and with a rolled-up shirt that was buttoned all the way up, no tie. 

“Yeah,” she answered, her green eyes meeting the cat-like golden eyes. “just thinking…” Turning her gaze away, she stared back at the ocean, watching the waves roll back and forth, the white seafoam contrasting to the brown-orangey sand. The young man who accompanied her walked up slowly, standing beside her and looked out as she did, closing his eyes and took a deep breath, like she did, and let it out. 

“It’s finally done,” If there was another moment she could have before being reminded of the horror she had to endure, she would, but she knew deep down it would have to be addressed sooner rather than later. “are… you happy?” 

“On this journey, you have asked me that question at every breakthrough we have had to endure, and I would always reply with ask me the next time we do this,” Tearing her gaze up at the male, his black and bedhead flowing in the wind, despite being wetted by the rain he was singularly the most attractive person she had met but she wouldn’t say that out loud. “but now I guess I can’t really avoid it…” Taking one last gaze at the ocean, as soon it was going to be her last, she tried to refrain from tearing up but the lump in her throat refused that urge. “Yes… as happy as I’ll ever be.” 

Letting out a tiny laugh, he looked down at her, nudging her shoulder with his elbow and he began to flash her that toothy smile. “Well, what shall we do now?” he asked, watching and waiting for her to answer his question.

“Go home.”


	2. october, 1925

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To where it all began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, this is the very first actual chapter of The Golden Coin, I spent a lot of time on this chapter! as you can see, I was coming back to it off and on because when I write constantly I lose my train of thought, but, here's the first chapter! Enjoy!

He couldn’t exactly remember what time it was or how long he had been asleep, passed out on the little tattered mattress on his ragged, cheap and cold apartment floor. But he knew someone was banging on his door relentlessly. As he lay there, on the mattress, he listened to the harsh banging on his door, over and over, the banging never ceased, it continued for the next thirty seconds until he finally registered what was going on. His golden, cat-like eyes snapped open and slowly adjusted to the dark, trailing over to the door that wasn’t so far away from his bed and underneath the crack in the door, he saw a black silhouette of someone’s feet. For a second or two, he watched how the feet turned into one large black shadow before turning back into one.

The situation at hand could’ve gone in one or two ways. One, the person on the other side of that door was with someone and the reason why their shadow began as two feet before turning into one was because there was someone with them or two, they were looking behind them to see if they were being followed. He really wanted to choose the lesser of two evils. “Open the door!” From the other side of that door came a meek voice, quiet and sounded tired, but muffled, of course. “Please... someone… help me… open the door…” There was a choke, a choke that only meant to him that they were holding back tears. On one hand, he felt the urge to see what was on the other side of that door but on the other, he really just wanted to catch up on some shut-eye. 

The pounding never ceased unfortunately for him but it was weaker than before, tired almost, like the voice that reflected the emotional state of the person behind that door. The tall man suddenly let out a stifled sigh, a huff if you will, he really couldn’t be bothered with this right now and currently, all he wanted was just some peace and quiet! But that didn’t last very long, clearly.

Reluctantly, the dark-haired male sat up slowly, rubbing his tired eyes and then let his hand wrack down his face, his fingers pulling at every tired piece of skin. As he did so, his gaze turned towards the door once again and this time it felt different to him, the figure was still standing there due to the shadow that they were casting underneath the door, but it always something different about it. Then, it dawned on him. The banging had stopped, this time it was gentle, at a slower and less frequent pace, almost as if they had given up— no such luck. Setting his hands on the tattered mattress, he pulled himself up finally and his feet were met with the intense cold, in his run-down apartment on some dodgy street there was no heating, well, he could have had heating but he wouldn’t risk having to pay extra for heating. Plus, his landlord didn’t know exactly what he did for a living and with all the work he did in the shadows, he couldn’t turn up with all this money and splashing the cash in his face the stupid landlord would’ve charged him more on rent.

As he walked towards the door, the floorboards squeaked and gave away his position, telling the person on the other side of the door that they were up and moving about, there was no way he could’ve tried to hide or avoid confrontation. Then again, if there was going to be a confrontation, wouldn’t they have busted down the door…? No, they wouldn’t have, sometimes the chase is more fun than going in all guns blazing. It was a rush. Stepping forward more, his long arm extended out and reached for the gun holster that was on the kitchen counter, the cool metal firearm sent shivers down his spine, not only before this moment that gun was hot to the touch with firing out bullets. 

Before he had gone to sleep, well passed out on the mattress, he reloaded his gun with a new round of bullets so there were some in case there was an unplanned attack against him in the middle of the night. Ironic, right? He pulled back the safety, then cocked the gun as his free hand reached towards the numerous locks on his door. You could never be too careful in places like this. One after the other the locks were undone, he let out a shaky breath as his hand finally gripped the handle, and in one swift movement he opened the door, stunning the person on the other side and raised the gun to their head, pressing harshly against their forehead that there would’ve been a ring indentation in their skin. Though, in the beginning, he would’ve shot the person straight off, but it was until he realised that the person who was on the other side of that coin… was a woman. 

He had to refrain himself from his eyes widening but it happened anyway. Scanning over the woman’s body, he didn’t notice things at first, and now he wasn’t thinking about that, but as it took a closer look he noticed that she was covered in blotches of blood and by the looks of it, it was hers. The creamy jumper she wore was stained with crimson, turning light as it spread out across the woollen fabric and not only that there looked like there was a gunshot wound in the upper left of her shoulder. “Help… me…” Her green eyes rolled to the back of her head, indicating that she was beginning to pass out and she this happened, her forehead left the gun and began to descend towards the ground. Acting quickly, he grabbed the young woman and fell down with her onto the floor of his apartment, the front of her body pressed against his own, great, now he was stained with blood, again. 

As she landed in his arms, there was a clattering sound, like something being dropped and echoed in the empty halls of the apartment complex. His eyes immediately went to the unseen tempest, only for them to widen once again at the sight of a golden coin, spinning wildly on its axis and slowly, but surely, landed face up, or, well, heads up. His breathing hitched, getting caught in his throat. He wasn’t afraid of many things, hell, he had seen a lot of things, but men his age should never have to see the things he had. When the coin landed heads up for some reason he imagined a booming sound when it did, an ominous boom, like a bomb in the distance, you couldn’t see it but you could hear it. The sound that only meant one thing, death. 

He knew that coin, he had only seen it a couple of times in his life but even then it wasn’t something he liked to see. The face of the gold coin had an engraving of a face on it, a real human face that was screaming into the void with their eyes closed while hands stretched out towards the face from the edge and grasped at every piece of flesh that the person held dear. Within that, there were engravings of vines, resembling the deep-rooted significance of that coin. 

For the longest time as he stared at the coin, he forgot how to breathe. 

Why did she have that coin?

It had been a while since the unnamed young woman passed out in his arms due to blood loss. He wondered how the hell she even survived it, not many people survived a slash to the stomach and a gunshot wound, well, he knew a few that did but it was still a strange sight to see. When she had collapsed, he dragged her unconscious body towards his mattress, gently setting her down and quickly got to work. Why was he helping her, you might ask, he didn’t know why is what he would have replied to if someone had asked him. There was something about her, the way she said help me left a chill down my spine. But you don’t know this girl. I know, but everyone starts off as strangers. 

He knew it was wrong to strip her of her clothes, but he felt the need to clean and dress her wounds, that was the only thing on his mind and not only that, the coin that must’ve fallen out of her hand and collided with the wooden flooring of the hallway outside his apartment. As he sat down on a chair facing the bed, he held a newspaper in his grasp, flicking through the pages and every so often his eyes would glance up towards the girl lying in his bed, unconscious. At the back of his mind, he wanted her to wake up and give her a piece of his mind, along with questions and demands. Well, what did you expect? She came pounding, screaming and banging on his door in the middle of the night. 

The blonde girl, whose hair was matted and covered in her own blood, he did his best to get it out but he didn’t want to wake her. Though he wanted answers. There was a squirming sound in the direction where the unnamed unconscious girl was lying, his eyes glanced towards her and he merely stared at the young woman, putting his newspaper down on his lap and watched her for a moment. He was completely unfazed by all of this, not in a harsh way, but he had seen things like this before, to a higher extent. She looked pale, a sweaty pale, she was squirming and shivering, he knew she wasn’t cold, her body was just recovering from the amount of blood she had lost and the only way she would have coped with it if she slept, which was what she was doing.

The sun had risen over the city where he lived, he was always a city man, never a suburb or rural kind of guy, being in one small village wouldn’t have any privacy, everyone would know everything about everyone and since of the job he did, it would’ve been risky business. The dark-haired young man watched her writhe and shiver, it looked from far away that she was going in and out of consciousness, her eyes opened before they quickly closed once more and then repeated the same thing for about four times. He wasn’t exactly a hospital, he knew how to treat injuries such as hers because he had some himself and seen it on other people too, but he didn’t have much to go with when cleaning her wounds, sure, he had some of the correct items but he was getting low on bandages after helping her out.

He had a pair of surgical tongs in one of the boxes but he quickly had to clean it with hot water from the kettle and boiled it on the stove, everything he used he boiled it in that hot water and frequently had to change it. He removed her clothing to get a better look at the wounds, thankfully underneath she had undergarments on because he didn’t want her to think he violated her in her sleep which was horrific and he wouldn’t do such a thing. He used a hot towel to wipe away the blood that stained her shoulder, mostly all of it had dried and he had to be careful. He was able to get the bullet out of her shoulder and into a small bowl, dressing the wound and then he moved to the large gash that extended from her lower stomach and travelled vertically in a curved line to the waist of her body. 

Stitched and bandaged, cleaned and dressed. This was probably the most cared for moment this girl had ever lived in her sad life, to him it was sad but he would’ve been lying if he said that she was malnourished, she looked like she had been fed well but that might’ve been just because she only young, maybe a teenager, no older than sixteen. Hell, he was turning twenty-seven in a few weeks. It made him wonder how such a young girl got caught up with people that did this to her.

His mind drifted suddenly, without him wanting to of course, but the gold coin from before crossed his mind and his golden eyes flickering over to the small table in the distance where he had set it down. Even such a small object held such an ominous vibe. He has to stop asking himself why she had that coin, but he was determined to figure it out. 

How long had she been asleep? Ten hours? More than ten? Maybe even a whole day? Maybe she wasn’t even asleep, maybe she was dead. The thought of that crossed her mind several times when she tried to think how many hours she had been asleep, but her own logical mind told her that she wasn’t dead and she was very much alive, just in pain and exhausted. Her head was banging, throbbing, every part of her brain must’ve gone into overdrive while she was asleep on the bed. Wait, bed? With that, her eyes snapped open to endless darkness, she blinked several times to see if she really even opened her eyes and the rapid blinks a second indicated that her eyes were definitely open, the room was just terribly dark.

To tell the truth, the bed wasn’t exactly the comfiest bed in the world, she felt the bedsprings underneath the small of her back and beside her left thigh, but it was comfy enough for a recovering patient. She swallowed for the first time in hours, her own throat felt like sandpaper, she was parched and in need of a drink, presumably water. There was no use in looking around for a glass of water in the dark because she definitely wouldn’t have been able to see it, but then as she moved a little too awkwardly, she winced loudly and her free arm instantly went to the wound on her stomach. Only then did it dawn on her that she was clothed and her wounds were dressed. Who…? 

“So you’re awake,” she jumped at the sound of the deep voice in the dark. “you’ve been asleep for quite a long while, for a moment there I thought you might’ve been dead.” A little light switched on, only a table lamp but it cast enough light in the dark room and produced light shadows across the face who spoke. “Good morning,” he seemed to say mischievously, a cat-like toothy grin spreading across his face. “or should I really say… good evening.” 

He must’ve thought she would have laughed at the stupid joke, which she didn’t and there was an awkward silence. It wasn’t like she could laugh anyway, for one her throat felt like a desert, not that she had ever been to a desert before, but it felt like it. The man must’ve known there was something wrong, he got up from his chair that was opposite the bed and trudged over to what looked like the kitchen in the distance, the sound of running water first came out in spurts and then finally settling into a stream of cold water running into the cup he held. 

Within seconds, he marched over to her with rather long legs and kneeled down in front of the bed. “Here you go,” he answered kindly, but it didn’t match the intense look of his gaze that bore into her own. “drink up, you must be thirsty.” There was another awkward pause between the thing he had said, to now, that she couldn’t drink in the position she was in right now. “Oh, right, sorry,” he set down the glass of water beside the bed and began to gently pick her up, making sure she didn’t reopen any of the wounds that he had closed. The way he picked her up as if she was as light as a feather, which, at the same time, she was. The pillows behind her were puffed up while he held onto her, then he rested her down as gently as he could and she finally relaxed. 

The dark-haired male handed her the glass of water, she gratefully took it and within seconds she had drunk it all, right down to the bottom and barely came up with any air. Who could have blamed her? She must’ve been thirsty especially being asleep for so long. He honestly just stared, that’s it, just stared at her as she gulped down the water. “Easy on the water, my mattress isn't pissing proof.” With that, she choked on the water and spat it back out into the cup. “Sorry, sorry, I shouldn’t have said that whilst you were drinking. But my mattress isn't pissing proof, unfortunately.” The cup rested on her lap, staring down at it shyly before he reached over and grabbed it from her grasp, she wasn’t going to drink the backwashed water now since she spat it back out. 

The young woman watched him once again walk away, striding over to the small kitchen and emptying the contents into the bowl and it drained away. But, as he came back, she picked up that there was a totally different atmosphere around him. His hands were in his pockets and his head was cast lowly, clearly looking at the ground and he flopped down on the seat that was near her bed. Her stomach felt like it was doing flips, it was like she was being intimidated and she was, in fact, being intimidated, but was she going to allow him to do so? Maybe. It wasn’t like she was in any shape to defend herself. Once again, there was another awkward silence between them both, she stared at him as he stared at her. “So…” Compared to his gleeful and cheerful voice from before, it was rather serious. “shall we begin?” He asked, but she knew and he knew that wasn’t really a question that shouldn’t be left unanswered. 

From her place on the bed, she continued to stare at him, her green eyes never leaving his golden gaze. The young woman never answered his question, in fact, she was too terrified to even answer it, what if it ended badly… like before? “Well, are you going to tell me why you’re here?” She never answered again. The palms of her hands began to sweat, if she wiped them away right now then he would’ve caught on. 

He sighed, closing his eyes and raked a hand down his tired face. At least give him a break, he woke up about ten or fifteen minutes ago. “I shall ask again,” His voice became very stern as he looked over her, his gaze cutting through steel. “why are you here? Or better yet, what are you going here?” She was silent once again, and that infuriated him. “The silent treatment won’t work on me.” His voice was low, dark and sent shivers down her spine, it was entirely different from the slight happy tone from before. 

Suddenly he stood up and she cowered over his towering height, he walked away, towards what looked like a table to her and he picked up something glimmering, something solid before returning to her and sat down in the seat once again. “You came knocking on my door at one, maybe two, in the morning, banging, screaming and begging me to open the door. Even woke up my neighbours and trailed blood into my living room. I undressed you and dressed your wounds while still keeping your dignity, and you have the audacity to give me... the silent treatment…” His hand wrapped around something solid, his eyes met hers once again. “maybe that'll make you talk…” 

He flicked the golden coin into sight that she had from before. How did he even get it?! Her green eyes must’ve widened without her knowing when he flashed the glimmering coin. “Also, before we get down to business, I have to say, I skipped work for you so that I didn’t come home to a dead body, so, you’re welcome.” He twirled the coin between his fingers. “Anyway, judging by the looks of it, you seemed surprised that I have this. Tell me, do you know what this coin is?” 

Her eyes glanced between him and the coin. That coin held such significance to her that all she wanted to do was scramble towards him and snatch it from his grasp. “That coin isn’t yours to keep, get your grubby hands off of it!” Raising her voice only made him smirk, despite it was croaky in some points from her sore throat. 

“So she speaks?” He smirked as he took away the coin and slotted it into his pocket. “Speak again, tell me, what do you know about this coin and why would someone like you have it?”

“Excuse me?” She was rather insulted at the last part more so about how she obtained the coin. “What are you implying by ‘Why would someone like you have it?’, do you realise how insulting that sounds and it really… isn’t going so well in your favour if you are desperate to find out.”

“Heh…” He let out a laugh, clearly amused that he had riled her up. “maybe that wasn’t the best start to our conversation…” It suddenly went quiet in the room, like he was thinking of a better way to start, or restart, their conversation. “okay... let's try that again… we’ll start by saying our names and then we’ll continue, yes?”

“Sure…” She grumbled, looking away to gaze around the room. 

“My name is Tetsurou, Tetsurou Kuroo and… you are?” 

It took her a long while to speak her name until-- “Don’t give me a fake name either, I’ll know if you’re lying…”

She sighed, finally meeting his golden gaze. “Kumi… Kumi Aoki…”


	3. october, 1925.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the moment of truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this honestly took me ages and I am so sorry, I have been so busy with work and catching up on things. I had to reread everything I wrote at least twice and I hope this all makes sense, I know it may seem like a filler chapter but it’s because this was left in my google docs since the last time I updated it. Now that I am finished, I can move on— finally! 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it! <3

Was this girl hungry or something? The sound of her scoffing down the food that he had cooked for her was so vexing, it irritated him to no end and she didn’t even bother to slow down. Not until the cows came home, literally. Four rations of burnt bacon, three hashbrowns, two sausages and scrambled egg. And for himself? Coffee. Kuroo couldn’t believe how much she was eating, or, it could’ve been that he had to dig into his pantry to feed her gutsy appetite. Grumbling under his breath, he fixed the newspaper he was reading and began to scroll down the columns with this eyes, frequently reading the huge headlines. His eyes peered over the top of the newspaper, watching her scoff more and more of the scrambled eggs and bacon. Jesus… this was going to create a dent in his stocked food for a while and his goddamn money stash! 

As he inaudibly complained about his new guest, he then realised the sudden events that had occurred not that long ago and the reason why she was eating so much came back into memory. His brows creased into a frown as he looked at his paper again, Kuroo knew why she was here and how she got into the situation, he had to stop the degrading thoughts he was thinking. She was hungry after spending almost a day and a half-asleep on his mattress to heal. And not only that, she looked like she had been underfed with how skinny she was. He couldn’t blame her for that, hell, he was not that long ago complaining about her eating his food rations and making a gaping hole! 

The sound of her picking up one of the cups from the kitchen table and took a large gulp out of the water that was inside, barely coming up for air and dregs slipped passed the corners of her lips. “You might want to slow down,” The dark-haired male put bluntly, but he still wasn’t finished. “I know you’re hungry but you have to be careful, as foolish as it sounds, we don’t want you getting sick or throwing up which will cause your stitches to open if you strain too hard.” Now he was finished and so was she. 

Kumi wiped the side of her mouth from the remnants of her drink, placing down the cup and tapped her nails against the side. “Sorry…” she answered meekly, her gaze inched downward towards her lap. “I’m just… hungry, I haven’t eaten anything in a-”

“Long time?” Kuroo cut in, his eyes casting a look towards her above the newspaper before setting it down. “I know, I can tell.” Golden eyes flickered towards the now empty plate and he had to refrain his eyes from widening. She finished all of it?! “You finished?” It was more like a rhetorical question than to be answered. He knew she was and before the blonde girl could answer he had picked up her plate and her cup, standing up and striding towards the sink in the makeshift kitchen. As he set down the plate into the sink, he ran some water and cleaned the dishes and the cup without using too much water. Yanking the raggedy dishcloth from the little hook on the cupboards, he began to dry the dishes, wiping them clean of the water and setting them on the side, ready to be used again. Kuroo’s whole apartment was silent as the grave, besides the frequent squeaking of the plate being rubbed vigorously and the clinking of cutlery. 

Tetsu turned his gaze towards the blonde young woman who was still sitting at the table in the middle of his apartment, staring silently into nothingness and oblivion. Her emerald green eyes held something, a fear that he had seen many times and a knowing that he knew all too well. Slowly washing the rest of the cutlery, he still watched her, it wasn’t unusual for him to talk to people, but right now he felt an uneasiness around the young woman and not to mention the coin that she had with her when she came banging on his door early in the morning. “Do your wounds need dressing again?” His voice broke the silence, her gaze meeting his as she had a look of sheer panic. “Sorry… I didn’t mean to startle you. I just wanted to see if-”

“I think I’m okay,” Kumi, that was her name, Kumi Aoki, she was a pretty little thing, blonde hair, freckles, green eyes and a tiny gap between her two front teeth. “for now.” She had this look about her, a look of death but she wore it so well. Kuroo’s mind recalled the coin that she had in her possession, it gleamed like a thousand suns in his mind, giving him a headache without even laying eyes upon the object and it wasn’t like he wanted to either. They held each other’s gaze for a while before an awkward sniff filled the air and it wasn’t so silent anymore in the apartment. But that didn’t last very long, as it was silent once again. 

Kumi couldn’t find the words to speak right now. She could already detect that there as an edge to the conversation and the atmosphere was so thick that he probably could have cut it with a knife, like a knife through butter. He wanted to say so many things but he couldn’t put it into words, he was nervous of her reaction and how she would take it. But he needed to know. “You never really answered my question… from before… you passed out when you told me your name.” Now, that was true, after she told him her name, not even five minutes went passed and seconds later her eyes rolled to the back of her head, passing out. 

There was silence in the room, he hated this silence, it was deafening and frankly he couldn’t take it any longer! “I know what the coin means…” Kumi began, her gaze fixed on the table once again as she spoke softly. “there were some great lengths that I had to go through to get this coin…” How could someone like her have this coin? It was ridiculous!

“What lengths?” Kuroo answered. “When I mean why does someone like you have it, don’t take it offensively, but it’s…”

“No,” Kumi cut him off, her eyes immediately staring at him, never leaving. “I know you don’t mean any harm, or offence, but I cannot tell you what lengths.” Goddamn it! The question was still lying on the fucking air and he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Aoki,” Tetsurou firmly began, “when I ask you something from now on, I need you to tell me straight away and no dancing around the fucking question. Now, tell me, what lengths?” The look of surprise across her freckles face was priceless, he had raised his voice and she looked like a deer caught in headlights.

“I can’t… tell you that.”

“Get out.” Kuroo’s jaw clenched as he spoke these words. How dare she come into his home, eat his food and take his medical supplies, without giving him an explanation of why she was here? It felt like she was spitting in his face without even doing so. “Go on, get out. You’ve had enough out of me, eaten my food, used my medical supplies, slept in my bed all day and night, and you don’t have the decency to tell me why you’re here?!”

The sudden tears that fell from her green eyes sent a shiver down his spine, she began to cry, choking back a cry and the look of panic in her eyes was so prominent that he began to panic too. “No… please, you can’t, I have nowhere else to go! I have no money, nothing, I can’t go back home! Please!” The apartment had thin walls, all ears could have been listening to this young woman pour her heart out to him and sob uncontrollably. “Please don’t make me leave, I’ll tell you everything!” 

“All right, all right, I’m sorry,” Tetsu said calmly, but she kept on sobbing. “Aoki, please, I’m sorry, sorry…” 

She couldn’t go home, there was literally nowhere else to go, she had to leave her home and the people she knew, thrusting herself into the unknown and left her arms open wide in hope there was someone on the other side to catch her. That person was the man who stood before her, he cared for her, fed her, clothed her, even did more than the people in her own village did. When Kumi noticed the look in his eyes as he told her to leave, she felt a sense of urgency, panic and desperation, if he refused to help her and make her leave she would’ve had no one to help her. 

Placing a hand over her eyes she wiped away the tears that were stuck on her eyelashes and sniffled a little. Kumi noticed that there was silence in the room again, apart from her frequent hiccups and sniffles. “The reason why… I have this coin and went to great lengths is…” This would have been the first time she had said anything of the sort, the reason why she was here, she wanted to keep it a lie, hoping that it wasn’t true, but when she breathed air into it, it felt very real. “my father… and my brother… were murdered…” she choked back another cry. “by the Mafia.”

Breathing life into the lie she had tried to accept was the truth. It had finally come out, it was true and she was never going to be able to escape it. “The mafia?” Kuroo broke the silence, he too seemed in disbelief, but the look on his face told a different story. “You went through all this trouble to get that coin to… You're stupid.” He put it so bluntly that it felt like he has stabbed her with a knife. “Do you know how stupid you are?”

“Don’t call me stupid!” Kumi raised her voice, tears flowing from her eyes and down her cheeks, her face as red as a tomato. “I am not stupid! Everything that I have done, I have done for my family, the only family that I had left and they were taken from me by a group of hooligans who think they run the fucking world! Don’t you dare call me fucking stupid!” By god, she might’ve been tiny but she surely had a temper on her. “My father and my brother were the only family that I had left, and they were taken from me!” 

Kuroo wasn’t expecting her to burst out like that, but he stood there, dumbfounded but also annoyed, he was going to get complaints about the noise from his neighbours which drew any unwanted attention. “I think I heard you the first time…”

As she trembled with reopened sadness and anger, she violently wiped away her tears and slouched in her seat afterward, her arms loosely crossed over her chest and her eyes continued to bubble with tears. “... the lengths that I went to… are clearly shown in my wounds, I went… to so many different people, the police, told them about what had happened and they turned me away… I tried to find help… but no one would… and then the only help that I received was from someone who shot and tried to stab me…” Kumi spoke, her voice trembling with everything that left her lips and Kuroo was hanging on every word. “he wanted to help me, he showed interest, then… he gave me… the coin… he told me the coin had a connection to the underground, that it’s basically a currency within the sector… and…”

“And, what?” He was waiting for her to say it… to just say it… he knew it was going to come sooner than later…

“And I paid for it with my life.”


End file.
